Suitability of Crank's solutions to Fick's second law for water diffusivity calculation and moisture loss prediction in osmotic dehydration of fruits

Abstract

Various solutions (Crank's) of Fick's law of diffusion have been used to predict moisture loss (ML) in osmotic dehydration, by correlating experimental data. Selection of a particular solution should depend on the sample geometry and the fulfillment of a number of assumptions made to obtain that solution. Crank developed solutions for long-time, short-time, and a solution for diffusion into a sample from a well-stirred tank for sheets, cylinders and spheres. This work was carried out to find the most suitable Crank's solution to predict ML for a wide range of published data. The long-time solution and the solution for a well-agitated tank, for plane sheets, satisfactorily predicted ML of semi-infinite sheets and semi-infinite cylinders. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.